Asajj Ventress
Asajj Ventress was a feared commander for the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Ventress was also Dooku's best agent and assassin during the Clone Wars. Biography Early Life Ventress was originaly a Nightsister from Dathomir, but her mother at the behest of Mother Talzin, was forced to give her up to a criminal named Hal'Sted. Hal'Sted took Ventress to to Rattatak where she was raised. However, he was killed from an assault by Weequay raiders. She would have most likely died were it not for the arrival of a Jedi Knight by the name of Ky Narec. Stranded on Rattatak after his starship crashed, Narec sensed Ventress's connection to the Force after force pushing one of the raiders and, although Narec was cut off from the rest of the Jedi Order, he decided to train Ventress as his Padawan. The Master and Padawan duo became heroes to the people, ending wars and uniting rival armies. But tales and rumors of Ventress's new powers—her ability to move things with her mind and influence the minds of others—concerned the other warlords, and under one of the warlord's leadership, they banded together to kill Ventress and her mentor. Tragically, the warlords would indeed manage to kill Narec, but the pain of his loss combined with Ventress's own undisciplined skills sent her spiraling down the path toward the dark side of the Force. Star Wars: Republic 60: Hate and Fear When Narec died at the hands of a Weequay raider, she shaved and tattooed her head and left her innocence behind. Her skull was striped with twelve marks, one for each of the twelve warlords she had killed after swearing their deaths. Ventress, now in control of the land once held by the warlords who had murdered her Master, had a castle built on Rattatak, from where she controlled her new kingdom. Ventress kept Narec's lightsaber as a memento of the good times with her mentor, and developed a hatred of the Jedi, who she believed had abandoned Narec. Clone Wars Initiation on Rattatak Ventress was still in command on Rattatak when the Clone Wars began with the Battle of Geonosis. After Sev'rance Tann was killed on Krant, Count Dooku, alias Darth Tyranus, went in search of a new disciple to serve him as a commander in the Confederacy of Independent Systems. He traveled to Rattatak, where he was met by a waiting humanoid co-conspirator. As he sat beside the Count in a nearby observation chamber, this robed individual was silently and swiftly dispatched by a dark, cloaked figure who then took his seat. Dooku noted the presence of the killer, but initially voiced doubt about her combat abilities—until Ventress threw herself into a gladiatorial pit fight in the Cauldron and easily annihilated such all the foes assembled there. Dooku applauded Ventress's talents, but she then went too far by declaring herself a Sith, and claimed that Dooku knew nothing of the dark side. Dooku decided to "enlighten" her. After rendering her unconscious with a blast of Sith lightning and later defeating her in a duel, Dooku presented her to Darth Sidious, who approved his choice, and ordered her to kill a certain Jedi—Anakin Skywalker. After her departure, Sidious told Tyranus that it was irrelevant whether or not Ventress succeeded. Either way, Lord Sidious won. In fact, events turned out better than even he had planned. Not only did Skywalker draw on his rage, but Ventress survived and the two Sith gained a valuable assassin. Before Ventress left, Dooku presented her with a pair of new lightsabers that belonged to his former apprentice, Komari Vosa. Ohma-D'un Ventress along with fellow CIS commander, Durge went to Ohma-D'un to test out Jenna Zan Arbor's chemical weapon known as Swamp gas. There they along with specially fit super battle droids, poisoned and killed the Gungan Colonists. Ventress and Durge then waited for the Republic forces to arrive. Durge and the new variations of the B2 super battle droids attacked and released the gas upon the jedi strike team. While the Jedi were being occupied by Durge and the droids, Ventress made herself appear for the first time as she decapitated Jedi Master Glaive from behind. Then, she discarded her cloak on Glaive's corpse and before she dueled Kenobi, she stated these words with a hint of her past: Ventress then attacked Jedi General Kenobi, but admired his speed for dodging his attack. Ventress tried to cripple him in a Force Grip. Durge then tried to help her defeat kenobi just they were about to shoot his head off when the late Glaive's Padawan, Zule Xiss, attacked him, causing him only to hit Kenobi in the left shoulder and to have Ventress release her grip. As Ventress told Durge to go after Kenobi's apprentice and clone officer before they could sabotage the Separatist efforts of a Naboo invasion, she used the dark side to bring the dead Gungans to rise up as an army to back her up in taking on Kenobi and Xiss. The reanimated Gungans were destroyed, but the Jedi's strength were being depleted by the swamp gas. Ventress sliced off the fallen Glaive's apprentice's left arm, though the Padawan had managed to hold on. She nearly killed Kenobi, only to be outnumbered by the enemy when the unaffected Skywalker and the clone officer, who destroyed the Separatist fueling station, arrived. Seeing that Skywalker wasn't cowardly as she thought, Ventress vowed to her assigned target she would remember that at their next encounter. She jumped for a ride with Durge, who was using his jetpack to pick her up for the Separatist retreat—though now the Jedi would undoubtedly remember the new face of war. Also, while Durge said that Dooku would consider the mission a failure, Ventress did not for she knew Kenobi's face and heart. Ruul Ventress trained at Dooku's fortress. Three months after the Battle of Geonosis, she was sent to Ruul, where Mace Windu, Senior Member of the Jedi High Council, was to meet with the Jedi dissidents led by Sora Bulq. Bulq had been converted to the dark side by Dooku after being captured on Bakura following the Battle of Geonosis, and was part of Dooku's plan. Ventress was sent in as an assassin, whom the dissidents were led to believe had been hired by Windu. Windu eventually uncovered the truth, but not before Ventress killed Bulq's former Padawan Mira (to the Weequay's remorse). While Windu confronted Bulq, Ventress later ambushed Rhad Tarn, in whom she saw promise and persuaded him to no longer be a "weak pawn of the Republic." Together, they dueled K'Kruhk and Sian Jeisel, who were too late to save Rhad from Ventress' lies. As Jeisel killed Rhad in self-defense, Ventress wounded K'Kruhk and was about to kill him when Jeisel (whose loyalty Ventress respected) blocked her attack. Then Windu, who had rendered Bulq unconscious in a lightsaber duel, arrived on the scene. Though Ventress briefly dueled Mace Windu, she realized she was no match for the Korun Master's skill in Vaapad—even using her deadly saberstaff—and fled Ruul with Bulq in a solar sailer. See Also thumb|300px|right|Ventress backstory Category:Commanders and Officers Category:Dark Acolyte